"Hurry up, Jas!" I laughed, pulling her along. She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I'm comi- OW!" I looked back and she was rubbing her head. I stopped walking and walked closer to her. "Aw, man, I'm sorry, Jas. You alright?" She nodded and smiled a little. "I'm fine, Sammy, just hit my head on the roof of the car...but seriously, I can just get a hotel room." I shook my head and began dragging her along again. "No way, you're staying here. I insist." Jasmine laughed a little. "It's not your house to insist I stay in, ya know." I shrugged and chuckled. "Who cares? You're staying and that's final, missy." Jasmine muttered a few things under her breath, but didn't protest further.

I brought her inside and looked around for Mom, hoping she wasn't at the video store at the moment. "Sam? You bring one of your friends over or somethin'?" Mike called from the kitchen. I glanced back at Jasmine and laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. How 'bout ya be polite and introduce yourself, huh, Mike?" I heard a groan and chair legs sliding across the floor. Mike walked out and sighed. "I'm Mike, Sam's brother, who are y-" he cut himself off and smiled. "Jazzy!" Jasmine laughed and nodded. "That's me! Gosh, you've grown, Mike. And, uh.. been working out?" Mike looked at his arms then back at her. "Oh, uh, yeah, just a little." He seemed to blush a little. Hardly noticeable, but it was definitely there. I didn't mention it, knowing he'd kill me if I did.

Jasmine ran forward and hugged him. "Sure missed you guys.. things weren't the same, ya know?" she said looking at the both of us. "Jas is staying here with us for a while, Mike!" I exclaimed. He smirked and crossed his arms. "That so?" Jasmine sighed and gave me a side glance. "Your little brother insisted on my staying. I suggested I get a hotel. So, help me out. Tell him I'm right, Mike." she said, laughing a little. Mike shrugged. "No can do, Jazzy. I'd love to help ya, but I'm on Sammy's side. C'mon, it's no trouble!" Jasmine scoffed and put her hands in her pockets. "Listen, bud, that's sweet and all, but your mom has enough to worry about! Unless I hear those words from her, I'm getting a hotel room." I groaned and sat on the arm of the couch. The door opened and we all turned to see who had arrived. It was Mom.

I ran to Mom and immediately began begging. "Mom! Mom! Mom! Can Jasmine stay with us for a while? Please! She won't make no trouble or nothin'!" Mom rolled her eyes. "Sam, honey, will you let me walk into the house? What are you talking about?" she said, putting her bag down. Jasmine sighed. "Sam, calm down, will ya? She just got home." Jasmine chuckled a little and walked forward. "Hiya, Mrs. Emerson." she said, smiling big. "Jasmine! Oh, it's been such a long time!" Mom exclaimed, hugging her. Jasmine was pretty much the daughter she never had and Mom... well, Jasmine never had a good mother, so, Mom kinda filled that void in Jasmine's life. "Yeah, it really has. I'm back for good, though! Old enough to do what I want and I decided I wanted to come back home." I cleared my throat and tapped Mom's shoulder. "Mom, Jas doesn't have a place to stay. She keeps talkin' about hotels, but you know we can't let her stay in one of those flea nests!" Jasmine giggled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sammy, c'mon, it's too much. I can't ask you guys to do that. I'll find a place, pinky promise!" Mom shook her head and smiled. "No, it's not. I'm not letting you go to one of those rundown places. You stay here as long as you need!" Jasmine sighed and shifted her weight onto her other foot. "But what about-" She wasn't allowed to finish her sentence. "No buts! Now, c'mon, let's get you some dinner. I bet you're starving!" I smiled and held Jasmine's hand. She squeezed it and kissed my cheek.

"This is gonna be great! We'll stay up and watch scary movies, our favorite TV shows, play video games, and everything!" Mike laughed and put his hand on my shoulder. "Calm down, Sammy. You'll have plenty of time to plan all the vacation activities. You been back to the boardwalk, Jas?" She let go of my hand and nodded. "First place I went. I'm going back tomorrow night, too." Mike nodded and looked at me, then back at her. "Well, Sam and I were gonna go to the boardwalk tomorrow, too. Wanna just go as kind of a group? Safer that way, ya know." he smiled. Jasmine seemed to think about it for a second. Why it took so much thought, I'll never know, but finally, she nodded. "Yeah, sure. It'll be like old times." I sniffed the air a few times and nudged Mike. "You smell that?" Mike gave me a confused look at first, but then his eyes lit up. "Mom's making her baked chicken!" Jasmine gasped. "I love your mom's baked chicken!" I grabbed her wrist. "Well, c'mon! Let's go eat! Mom! Dinner ready?" Once again, I was dragging Jasmine behind me. This time, Mike followed close behind. "Yep! Come and eat, kids!" That was all we needed to hear.

"I'll sleep on the couch, tonight. You go ahead and sleep in my room." Mike said after we had finished eating. Jasmine's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No! No, I won't do it. It's your room, not mine. You have a right to sleep in your own bed. I'll sleep on the couch and you will sleep in your room." They went back and forth like that for a while and then I stepped between them. "How about both of ya sleep in the room? That way, nobody has to sleep on the couch or be put out of their room!" Mike hit my arm. "Sammy!" I rubbed my arm and glared at him. "What?! Solves the problem, doesn't it? Fine. If ya don't wanna do that, she could sleep in my room with me." Jasmine rubbed her eyes and then looked at me. "I dunno, Sam... I'm fine with sleeping on the couch." I sighed. "Come on! My room it is." I ran up the steps with Jasmine not far behind. She protested, but still came in anyway. Mike walked in and put her bag on the floor. "Got your bag for ya. If ya need anything, just yell, ok?" Jasmine nodded and he smiled. "Ok, Mike, stop being creepy. Time to go!" I pushed him out of the room and closed the door. Jasmine picked up her bag and shifted around awkwardly. "Uh, Sam, can you show me where the bathroom is? I need to change.." I nodded. "Oh! I'm sorry, Jas. Yeah, I'll show ya." I showed her where it was and went back to my room to change into my pajamas.

I was reading a comic when Jasmine came back in. She was wearing black and dark blue pajamas, a long sleeve pajama shirt and pajama pants. There was a little pocket on the shirt with Scooby-Doo on it and the little pictures of the Mystery Machine were scattered everywhere else. I laughed and put my comic down. "Love the pajamas!" Jasmine looked down at them and giggled. "Yeah? I think they're great, if I do say so myself." She crawled into bed next to me and sighed. "Night, Sammy. Love you!" she said, kissing my cheek. "Love you too, Jas." I turned my lamp off and laid down. About ten minutes later, I was almost asleep when Jas started cuddling close to me. When I looked at her, she was sound asleep. It was kinda cute. 'Boy, if she had slept in Mike's room, he'd be blushing like crazy right about now.' I thought. I wasn't sure if he liked her or if he just got real nervous when stuff like that happened. He had a girlfriend, though. Star was her name. He was a loyal boyfriend, so I'm sure he would've just moved Jas over a little or somethin'. I laughed quietly and then drifted off to sleep.